So, reading my old blogs I realized that with Asher, I did not do the best job at telling everyone what he could do... so now, I'm going to try harder to give details - mainly so I can go back and see what the boys were doing. It's been crazy busy with moving and such, but both boys have been learning, advancing and are able to do so many new things. Here we go...
Asher - he can pretty much repeat anything :) and :( The other day Mark said "Oh crap" just in conversation, retelling something someone else was doing and Asher started saying it... in a funny, grunty type of voice. It was funny and not so funny... cute and disturbing. Asher can also put some of his clothes on by himself! One day, I was on my computer and he walks over with a shirt around his neck! It was a dirty shirt, so I got him a clean one and let him try again. It takes a bit of work but he can mostly do it himself. Pants are hit and miss... especially jeans. Asher is also singing to himself a lot. Nothing that I can understand mostly, sometimes I hear "crinkle star," but it's really cute!
We have a piano at the new place and Asher likes to play on that too - of course, he always has. But you can tell that he experiments with the different sounds. Sometimes he just goofs off and hits all kinds of keys, but often, he just gently plays a few keys in a row, repeats a little, plays notes high and low... we'll see what he's doing at the end of the year and maybe start to teach him a little. His language skills are improving dramatically! And so is his understanding of life in general. Mark took Ash down to Coos Bay this weekend and we prepped him on who he would see and that it would be a LONG drive. Well, then on Thursday we ran a few errands with Uncle Mark and when we got home, Asher just cried and kept saying "Grampa Boatright, Grampa Boatright!" Apparently, he thought the long trip to Newberg would eventually lead to seeing grandpa Boatright... it was very sweet. He also says a lot of phrases like "I'll sit there" "Grampa downstairs" "Want some" (as he tries to give you some of whatever he's eating) "Papa drive, Mama drive"... I wish I could remember all of them! We are really enjoying this stage of his life!!
Cole - well, after going through a cold, 2 ear infections and Fifth Disease/Slapped Cheeks Disease (simple virus) Cole is more like his happy self than he was the past month or so. He's been crawling about on his tummy for a while now but the past couple weeks he's been getting up on all fours and crawling like that... he switches back and forth, depending on how fast he wants to go. He is also pulling himself up on stuff but only to his knees. Funny, b/c he can actually "walk" on his knees while holding onto something but he puts on foot up like he'll stand up and then can't figure out what comes next. I'm sure we'll be seeing him standing up within a few weeks :) He can also get to sitting up on his own, which didn't happen for Asher until after he was walking (that darn huge head of his).
At Cole's 9 month appt he weighed 19lbs 10oz and was almost 29" long. He has 4 teeth (he's had those for a while) and was recently teething with the next 2 on top but they haven't quite broken the gums yet. He has 4 or 5 bottles a day, 3 or 4 servings of fruits and veggies, yogurt, rice cereal, yogurt melts and "puffs" as we call them - those Gerber grain puff things. I think he'll be one of those kids who eats mushed food forever!!! He gags so easy!! Oh well, he does well with lots of veggies so I'm happy with that. He hates getting his diaper changed but is also happy in an instant once it's over with.
We've been trying to get the boys to sleep in the same room at night. We had a couple nights where Cole was completely out before we put Ash to bed and that worked well. Most nights tho, Asher comes out anywhere from 2-5 times!!! Then, we go to put him back, tuck Cole back in (b/c he's usually making faces and noises at Asher) and Cole is just laughing hysterically! It's the weirdest thing! You touch him and he's just cracking up laughing and giggling... at least it helps with the frustration that neither child goes to sleep until they've been put to bed a million times an hour after we started. If it doesn't get better in another 2 weeks we might put them in separate rooms for a few more months... we'll see. Otherwise, they sleep great through the night and mornings haven't been too insanely early. During naps they sleep in separate rooms and that has been working great for me and them.
I sold my double stroller with car seat and got a double jogging stroller (we had to upgrade the carseat last month when Cole got too tall for his). I tried it out with Cole and Analeigh and it is so nice!!! It even has a speaker I can plug my phone into and play music for the kids!!! It rides smooth and the colors are so nice... I love it!!! Hopefully, it'll be great motivation for me to take a "break" and let the kids relax while I get rid of my baby fat :)
We are still unpacking boxes. We have a lot of stuff we need to buy organizational things for so hopefully, we'll get some of our deposit back from the last place and be able to use that money for shelving and such. We'll make a date of it and go to Ikea!!! We love the new place tho. It's been great having Grandma and Grandpa around - for all of us :) Asher loves having them around, he's constantly asking to go downstairs and see them. He stands at the gate we put in and will sometimes throw a toy down, then say "Go get it?" Nice try buddy!
Well, I've been doing tons of photography stuff lately... check my photography blog to stay tuned into that...
www.joliphoto.wordpress.com Thanks and I'll update again soon!!
